About
Sherpa Capital is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm that supports the most promising emerging technology-enabled companies, helping them become global brands beloved by their customers.
Sherpa Capital is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm that supports the most promising emerging technology-enabled companies, helping them become global brands beloved by their customers.
Diversity and inclusion are core values at Sherpa, both in the team members we hire and in the entrepreneurs we choose to fund. We are proud of our track record of supporting founders and recruiting and hiring candidates from historically underrepresented backgrounds, including women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ community and immigrants. We believe that no race, gender, nationality or sexual orientation has a monopoly on talented entrepreneurs, and we continually put our values into action through the companies and ideas we support.
Great vision flourishes with great people. We invest in people, and that begins with recruiting the best team with outstanding minds and hearts.
Alex Fayette is a Principal at Sherpa Capital. Prior to joining Sherpa Capital in January 2016, Alex was an Investment Banking Analyst at J.P. Morgan for three years. There, Alex spent time as an Analyst in both the firm’s Technology, Media & Telecom Investment Banking team in San Francisco and its Financial Institutions Investment Banking team in New York City. Alex’s deal experience spans a range of debt, hybrid and equity capital raises as well as M&A and activism defense.
Alex received his B.A. from Yale University in Economics and is a former Yale Whiffenpoof.
Alex lives in San Francisco.
Arielle Cahayag is the Office Manager of Sherpa Capital where she ensures the daily operations of the workplace run smoothly. She is the friendly presence who welcomes our guests when calling and coming in to our office; she takes great pleasure in making sure both the team and guests are taken care of.
Bringing extensive experience in customer service from the Hospitality Industry, Arielle previously worked as a Guest Services Agent for The Battery and as a Front Desk Agent at The Renaissance ClubSport, Walnut Creek. At each company she primarily worked in the Hotel Department and also assisted in the Food & Beverage, Housekeeping, Events and Membership Departments.
Arielle currently holds an Associate of Arts Degree in Merchandise Marketing from The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.
Arielle is a Bay Area native who loves spending time with friends, family and her dog.
Brian Yee is a Partner at Sherpa Capital and founding team member since 2014. He focuses on investment opportunities in online marketplaces, mobile services, ecommerce, fin-tech, digital healthcare and vertical software. Brian currently sits on the board of Do.com and Zendrive, and serves as a board observer on Brandless, Beyond Games, Cue, OpenGov and Wag. He has also been involved with the firm’s investments in Airbnb, Didi, Fair, Munchery, Ipsy, Pillpack, Rent the Runway, Robinhood, Stance and Uber, among others.
Prior to Sherpa Capital, Brian was an investment professional at General Atlantic, a $20 billion growth equity firm, where he focused primarily on mid-to-late stage growth investments in internet, software and business services sectors. During his tenure, Brian helped to execute and support the firm’s investments in Box, Appirio and Altair. Before joining General Atlantic, Brian started his career at Goldman Sachs, where he led investments in growth-stage companies such as Uber (Series B), and advised companies like Workday, Twitter, Intuit, Intel, GoDaddy and LAM Research on M&A, capital structuring and financing decisions. Brian also previously worked in Goldman’s Investment Management division where he was a member of 8-person investment team managing $4 billion in AUM for high net worth families, foundation and institutions.
Brian is a graduate of Georgetown University and worked as a congressional intern for Senator John McCain. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and daughter.
Jill Stanghellini is an Executive Assistant at Sherpa Capital where she supports the entire office and team. Jill’s talents have been honed over decades by working with top C-level Executives at some of the world’s most successful technology companies such as Google, Cisco and GE as well as the commercial real estate firm, Shorenstein Properties. In addition, Jill’s past experiences partnered her with many high-profile philanthropic family offices throughout the Greater Bay Area as well as New York.
Jill manages a lively household of two children and many animals. She is actively engaged in the community through volunteer work, including serving on local school Boards of Directors.
Kirby Bartlett is the Managing Director, Chief Operations Officer, and Chief Compliance Officer of Sherpa Capital. Prior to joining Sherpa Capital in December 2015, Kirby had a similar role at Bay City Capital, a venture capital firm that raised eight venture capital funds representing $1.6 billion in capital commitments. With 20 years in venture capital, including 14 years running the back office, he is a highly experienced venture capital executive capable of managing all aspects of a VC firm. Over his tenure, he has led efforts in fundraising, marketing, investor relations, recruiting, regulatory compliance, portfolio management, and investing. His early investment activities include championing three investments that led to IPOs. His overall experience makes him ideally suited to manage Sherpa's back office and support its investment team. Previously, Kirby worked for Burrill & Craves where he advised companies in various corporate development strategies. Kirby also worked at BAbCO (acquired by Covance) for six years where he managed a majority of its contract research services.
Kirby holds an MBA from University of San Francisco graduating 1st in his class, and received a BA in Molecular Biology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Kirby, along with his wife and two kids, is deeply rooted in the Bay Area, having lived here almost his entire life.
Lauren Fishman is an Executive Assistant at Sherpa Capital, where she supports Scott Stanford and other members of the Sherpa Capital team. Lauren is also a key member of the firm's IT and operations teams.
Prior to joining Sherpa Capital in October 2013, Lauren was an Executive Assistant at Goldman Sachs for over ten years where she supported the President of Goldman Sachs Gives and the COO of the firm’s West Coast Investment Banking Division.
Lauren holds a bachelors degree in Cultural Anthropology and Education from the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Mike Derrick joined the team in June 2018 as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to Sherpa, Mike served as CFO at Trident Capital which, together with spin-out funds Sunstone Partners and ForgePoint Capital, managed active fund capital commitments totaling $2 billion. Mike brings over 20 years of Private Equity/Venture Capital finance experience having worked in similar roles at Thomas Weisel Partners, Trust Company of the West and Apax Partners as well as fund administration stints at Mourant Fund Services and HSBC. Mike’s varied knowledge of the alternative assets industry enables the most efficient streamlining of Sherpa’s back office function while improving the support of its investment team.
Mike trained with Ernest & Young in “Old” Jersey where he grew up as a lad. He strives to master the guitar fingerpicking styles pioneered by the English masters and enjoys being outnumbered by his lovely wife and two teenage daughters.
Liz Keen has more than of 10 years of experience in strategic communications and brand positioning and has worked with some of the world’s leading brands across technology, fashion, and hospitality.
She is currently Head of Brand and Communications for Sherpa Capital where she manages media relations and brand initiatives for the Firm and provides strategic communications counsel and industry connectivity for Sherpa Capital portfolio companies.
Previously, Liz was a partner at Sherpa Foundry, a corporate innovation platform founded by Sherpa Capital cofounders Scott Stanford and Shervin Pishevar. There she created strategic programming that connected Sherpa Foundry members (including DreamWorks [acq. Comcast], Target, Salesforce, and eBay), to the best startups, entrepreneurs, and emerging technology through curated experiences.
Prior to joining the Sherpa family, Liz spent several years in New York City as Senior Director of Communications + Special Projects at Conde Nast where she managed public relations, executive positioning and global programming across the company’s media properties.
Liz has served as an advisor to multiple startups and as a consultant to Equinox, overseeing strategy around the rebranding of Furthermore, their editorial platform and retail business.
Liz is received her BA in Public Relations from University of Southern California.
Scott Stanford has been focused on the internet/technology sector for over 25 years as an advisor, operator, and investor. Scott co-headed Goldman Sachs’s Global Internet Investment Banking business in San Francisco for 12 years where he advised clients on $80 billion of equity and debt financings and strategic transactions and was deeply involved in investments in technology-enabled companies such as Facebook, Uber, DST/Mail.ru, Demand Media, LinkedIn, Palantir, iCrossing, and Square. His client coverage responsibility included Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Groupon, Zillow, Airbnb, Uber, and many other established and emerging technology-enabled companies. Prior to rejoining Goldman in 2004, Scott was an early employee of LookSmart, helping build the company from a start-up in 1999 to a publicly traded NASDAQ company. From 1996 to 1998, while earning his MBA, Scott coded prototype applications for two startup ideas, one focusing on community service and the other focusing on automating and prototyping core financial analyses. He spent a summer during business school as an Associate at General Atlantic Partners focused on technology venture capital. Prior to business school, Scott was a Financial Analyst with Goldman Sachs’s Technology, Media, and Telecommunications Investment Banking Group. He began his Goldman career in the Fixed Income Group from 1993 to 1995 in New York. During this time, he developed software applications as well as structured and marketed Interest Rate Swaps and Options for the firm’s municipal clients. Scott grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. As an early adopter of technology, he taught himself to code at age 13, built and ran a dial-up BBS, taught computer courses, started a personal computer consulting business, and developed a robotics exhibit for the Indianapolis Children’s Museum. Scott also earned his Pilot’s License at the age of 17. Scott received his A.B. with Honors from Harvard College (Social Studies) and M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Stacey Leanos is the Director of Investor Relations for Sherpa Capital, responsible for managing the firm’s investor communications and fundraising activities.
Prior to joining Sherpa Capital in January 2017, Stacey was Associate Director of Investor and Public Relations for Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ: CERS), a biomedical products company focused in the field of blood transfusion safety. Prior to Cerus, Stacey spent 13 years with Bay City Capital, a $1.6 billion venture capital firm focused in the life sciences sector. She was most recently Senior Director of Marketing and Investor Relations, responsible for marketing, investor relations, and media communications for the firm and its venture capital funds. Prior to Bay City, she spent four years as a Portfolio Analyst conducting industry and market research at Ashfield & Co., an asset management firm specializing in investment strategies for high net worth individuals, institutions, and endowments.
Stacey received a BA in Business Economics from Mills College, as well as an MBA from the Mills College Lokey Graduate School of Business. She is a Bay Area native.
Tiffany Aike Ho is an Investment Associate at Sherpa Capital. Before joining Sherpa, Tiffany spent most of her career at J.P. Morgan, where she played various intra-preneurial roles across the bank. In 2014, she helped launch the Investment Bank's 150-person cross-asset electronic trading desk, named Execution Services. As Chief of Staff to the CEO of Chase Digital within the Consumer Bank, she led initial development for major strategic projects such as Chase Pay and digital account opening. Tiffany also co-founded a variety of businesses and served as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at a private fund.
Tiffany is a graduate of Yale University.
Tiffany and her partner live in San Francisco.
Veronica Booi is an Accountant at Sherpa Capital, where she is a key member of the finance team working on budget and cash-flow planning, expense management, and financial reporting and analysis.
Prior to joining Sherpa Capital, Veronica held roles in accounting, finance, and human resources in a broad range of industries, including venture capital/alternative investment management (at ChinaRock Capital), law, financial services, hospitality, and media and entertainment. Some of the Fortune 500 clients that Veronica worked with include firms in industries such as SaaS, gaming, electric auto, aerospace, electronics, infrastructure engineering, hospitality, filming and social media.
Veronica graduated from the University of San Francisco where she received her B.S. in Business with a double major in Finance and Hospitality Management. Veronica is a notary public and a member of the National Notary Association.
Veronica loves music, arts and gardening. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and enjoys traveling to her hometown, Singapore.
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Sherpa Capital is located in downtown San Francisco. Our office is one block from the Powell Street Muni and BART station, and the nearest parking option is the Ellis-O’Farrell Garage.
800 Market Street, 8th Floor
(entrance on Ellis Street between Market and Powell streets)
San Francisco, CA 94102